Ok so when we look at The Last Of Us I think a lot of us are hit with just how morally
grey that it is.
Joel's actions are questionable, Ellie ends up treading down a dark path and people have
to do bad things to get by but all in all we can understand why this is.
No matter how dark things get with the protagonists there is at least some debate in it with even
the ending of the first game being like "well I get it" at the very least.
However in the case of David I don't think there's any point where you can actually sympathise
with him.
A devious and manipulative man he attempts to groom Ellie into joining him and his cult.
In both the show and game we learn minor things about them and incase you don't know David
is one of the main antagonists in both.
I think he's been put in place to show that man is the worst predator of them all and
amongst this new world he's managed to abuse people and do what he wants.
David is far worse than the infected and he even sees them as being something to admire.
Before the world fell apart he would've had to have moved silently and likely would've
evaded the law due to his manipulative abilites.
Though he definitely twists situationst to his benefit post apocalypse he has even more
power because the world has fallen apart.
He has taken away his followers from the ovelooking guise of Fedra and isolated them far away
from everyone else in a habitat that not many people would venture to due to the weather
there.
Here he's very much built a cult around him and like most cult leaders he's abused this
power to allow him to carry out his dark fantasies.
Describing himself as a man with a dark heart we see how he's led his flock into a life
of cannibalism and that they've been shunned into silence even when witnessing abuse.
Now In the show we learn a little bit about his past and discover that he actually used
to be a teacher.
Knowing what we know about him this has an extra layer to it as he could've used this
role to prey upon people.
This very much plays into why he likely became a preacher as well.
These positions of power give him access to young girls and it also means that people
will listen to him and turn a blind eye to what hes doing.
When all the issues happened with the Catholic Church we discovered that many people knew
about it but they just covered it up instead of actually damning the person committing
the indefensible acts.
Religious figures are often thought to very much be a vessel for God and thus in this
position few people question them and I think that this is why David chose to become a holy
figure.
Due to what he says I don't get the feeling that he's even religious and instead he views
the Cordyseps as the higher power.
He is a charlaton, masquerading as the leader of a cause that he doesn't believe in because
it makes him untouchable amongst his people.
At one point James questions that it might be Gods will to let Ellie die but we see his
own choices overriding that so that he can get her.
David is pretty much using the perfect portrayal of his character to get what he wants as well.
I think both the show and game do an excellent job of painting him out as being a very meek
and meager character who's completely unassuming.
When playing as Ellie you end up fighting alongside him and due to how valuable he is
I think that many players will see him as a great ally in these moments.
Hell he even fooled me and upon my first play through I was thinking that he seemed like
quote unquote one of the good ones.
Up until this point we'd fought against Fedra, Bandits and some of the worst people imaginable
that were happy to kill a kid to get just an extra bit of food.
David on the otherhand seemed like he genuinely wanted to help Ellie and he even sent off
his right hand man to get medicine for her.
As players we're very much meant to see him as the people in his town do and be on his
side.
However the turn comes early on when he actually plays his hand slightly and reveals that his
men have had run ins with Joel and Ellie in the past.
Now though people might not think it's smart to overplay this, he's doing it because he
realises Ellie is on her own.
Had Joel been in fighting shape she wouldnt be out there getting medicine for him and
thus he wants to offer her something away from him.
In this world most people are in it for themselves and in the game we even get the feeling from
Joel that he's ditched people when they've slowed him down.
We saw this with Henry and Sam too when the Run truck was chasing them and on the hole
staying with someone if they're wounded is the exception and not the rule.
David incorrectly assumes that Ellie is like this too but getting someone away from their
family is also a tactic that abusers do.
Psychologists have outlined patterns like this before and in toxic and abusive relationships
there tends to be some key characteristics.
These involve getting the victim away from their friends and family and thus they are
more likely to stay with the person because they have no one to turn to.
In Davids town Ellie would very much be viewed as the enemy too.
The stories of her and Joel will have circulated at this point and and I can't imagine that
the townsfolk will take too kindly to her round these parts.
Thus Ellie will very much be stuck in a strange place that she doesn't know with no one to
turn to.
David will be the only person that she has and thus he'll be able to manipulate and buse
her without anyone stepping in to help her out.
It's a sick and sadistic plan that puts Ellie in the most danger that she's ever been in.
Whereas she found a surrogate father with Joel, David is very much a dark version of
that and I dont think it's a conicidence that he refers to himself as that in the entry.
We see as a girl named Hannah mourns her father who was killed by Joel.
David has done a similar thing to what he planned to with Ellie and we see that he might
have control over her too.
I think that she is very much used in the episode to show what could potentially happen
with Ellie.
We watch as the congregation refuses to speak up even though he's hitting her in front of
them and it's likely that they would never speak up to him.
You really feel for this girl in the moment and I dont think it's any conincidence that
this interaction comes the night after he's just met Ellie.
This slap is very much him casting her to the side because he has a new target that
he can control.
It's got just a creepy subtext to it and the people just eat down on their meals without
speaking up.
They are just happy to have something to eat and if it's a choice between a hot meal and
speaking and starving then they'd clearly rather go with the former.
David has weaponised this and often in cults you will find behaviour that fits this too.
One of the first things that people do is that the restrict food as it allows them to
control those they seek to.
Nexium did it, R Kelly did it and pretty much every figure like this carries out something
similar.
We do know food is scarce so it might not be intentional but potentially David chose
for them to settle here because of that reason.
There's also the fact that its' out in the snow and thus anyone who tried to leave would
have to deal with the environment too.
So your choice is to stay there and be fed or face the harsh frozen landscape that surrounds
the town.
I think all of these aspects are what makes David the most evil character in the game
and show because of how devious he is.
Appearing as a mild mannered man he's managed to manipulate people into thinking that he's
not a threat when in reality he controls every aspect of the life that people have in his
town.
If you put yourself in their shoes you can easily see why some have just chosen to stay
silent and he's preyed upon this weakness to mean that he can basically do what he wants.
If they speak against him they could be speaking against God, if they stop him it might mean
that they're unable to eat and if they try and leave then they have to contend with what
lies around them.
They've already lived through Fedra and several raider attacks and now they just want some
safety and security in exchange for silence.
It adds so much complexity to the show but either way I think we can agree that David
is a sick and evil man.
I think most people would rather face off against the infected that be stuck in a town
with him as the leader but he's used fear to control them.
Masquerading as a religious man he's tapped into peoples fears and has used them as a
way to control how they live.
It's a harrowing thing and had Ellie ended up stuck with him then who knows what wouldve
happened.
His death scene is meant to be brutal for a reason and seeing her cut away into him
is done by the creative team to show just how evil he is.
It's complete overkill and yet you can definitely understand why his death is portrayed like
this.
In the end he's one of the most evil characters I think I've seen in video games before and
the worst thing is is that most players wouldnt have suspected a thing on their first run
through.
Now I think when making this video, something that stuck with me is just how much this actually
translates to real life.
Things like Clickers and Bloaters dont exist in our world but people like David do.
Put in a position of power they can destroy someones life worst than an outbreak like
this ever could and infact it would make them more powerful.
Without law enforcement and having people in a vulnerable position means that they can
thrive and get what they want.
It's terrifying to think about and I think it's a reason why David sticks with so many
people long after they finish the game.
To me he's the most dangerous character we come across and he's a chilling and evil villain
with or without the infected.
As always I'd love to hear your thoughts on the character to and what you think about
David in the show and game.
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